English Party

The English Party was one of three informal early Greek political parties that dominated early modern Greece, the others being the French Party and the Russian Party. The party's founders were the pro-British independence heroes Alexandros Mavrokordatos and Georgios Kountouriotis, who had applied for protection from the United Kingdom in 1825. The party lacked support in mainland Greece but was very powerful among the wealthy shipowners of the Aegean Islands and the Phanariotes. During Ioannis Capodistrias' rule, the English Party lost much of its influence due to the establishment of other parties, but regained most of it after the arrival of King Otto of Bavaria, since the sympathies of the principal regent Josef Ludwig von Armansperg lay with the United Kingdom. The party started to decline in influence after Mavrokordatos' death in 1865, and it merged into the New Party of Greece in 1873.